Braves need to be extremely cautious with Mike Soroka
The Atlanta Braves might need quality production out of Mike Soroka to win the NL East this season, but it’s time to exercise caution with the young righty.
The Braves lead the NL East by three games largely due to the excellent pitching they’ve received from their starting five. Mike Soroka has been a big part of their success, but they still need to shut him down for a significant period of time.
The team is putting Soroka on the DL for the second time this season. That’s not a good sign given that we’re only in mid-June. The fact that both stints on the shelf are being attributed to shoulder issues is also an extremely troubling sign for the 20-year-old phenom.
The tipping point for this DL stint came when Soroka’s fastball dipped to 90 mph in the fifth inning of his last start. Predictably, the Braves moved quickly to remove him from the game. Putting him on the DL for another couple of weeks isn’t going to be enough to safeguard Soroka’s future.
The Braves have once again placed Soroka on the DL with right shoulder inflammation.Danny Santana was promoted from Gwinnett. Soroka’s fastball dipped down to 90 mph during the fifth inning of Tuesday’s start
— Mark Bowman (@mlbbowman) June 22, 2018
Instead, the organization really needs to consider shutting Soroka down until after the All-Star break. Doctors haven’t been able to find anything structurally wrong with the pitcher’s shoulder, but the Braves need to work hard to keep it that way. Rushing him back too soon could lead to an injury that could affect his career over the long haul.
The good news for Atlanta fans is that the organization has a solid history of taking care of young arms. Even back to the days of Greg Maddux and Tom Glavine, the Braves have tried to build their teams on pitching. Putting Soroka in danger by bringing him back too soon would be out of character for the organization.
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Even so, teams sometimes make strange decisions when playoff races start to tighten up. The Braves have to remember that they’re counting on Soroka to be an ace of their pitching staff for the next decade. Putting too much pressure on him this season could ruin his chances to lead Atlanta to multiple playoff berths down the line.